Chapter 5 - The Secret Beneath Stanford DevelopmentThey sat around Lianna's tiny kitchen table until after midnight.
Austin slept in the next room.
Rain struck the windows.
The blue envelope remained between them.
Harrison inserted Daniel's flash drive into an old laptop.
Folders appeared.
Invoices.
Contracts.
Property transfers.
Shell companies.
Corbin recognized project names immediately.
Stanford Development had built hospitals, schools, apartment complexes, shopping centers, and government facilities throughout New England.
Daniel Prescott had worked as a forensic accountant.
His job had been to review project costs.
Four years earlier, he discovered something impossible.
Millions were disappearing.
Malcolm Stanford had created subcontracting companies controlled through hidden partners.
Stanford Development paid those companies inflated fees.
The difference was quietly transferred into private accounts.
“How much?” Corbin asked.
Harrison hesitated.
“At the time Daniel discovered it?”
“Yes.”
“Almost thirty-two million dollars.”
Lianna covered her mouth.
Corbin stared at the screen.
“But Grandfather knew?”
“He discovered part of it.”
“Why didn't he call the authorities?”
“He intended to.”
Harrison opened another document.
A letter.
Samuel Stanford had written it weeks before Daniel died.
Corbin read silently.
If anything happens to Daniel Prescott, immediately provide these materials to federal investigators.
Corbin looked up.
“What happened to this letter?”
“Malcolm found out.”
The room became silent.
Harrison continued.
“Daniel was supposed to meet Samuel in Boston.”
“The night he died?”
“Yes.”
Corbin felt cold.
“Was the accident investigated?”
“Briefly.”
“And?”
“The official finding was loss of control during heavy rain.”
Lianna whispered, “It wasn't raining.”
Everyone looked at her.
“The night Daniel died.”
Her voice broke.
“I remember because Austin hadn't been born yet. Daniel called me forty minutes before the crash. He said the sky was clear.”
Corbin immediately searched historical weather records.
Clear.
No rain.
No storm.
No dangerous road conditions.
Someone had lied.
Harrison opened another file.
There was an audio recording.
Daniel's voice filled the small kitchen.
“If you're hearing this, I probably didn't make it.”
Lianna began crying silently.
Corbin felt sick.
Daniel continued.
“Malcolm knows I copied everything.”
Then came a pause.
“But Malcolm isn't working alone.”
Corbin leaned closer.
Daniel's next sentence changed everything.
“Richard Stanford knows.”
Corbin stopped breathing.
His father.
Lianna looked at him.
Harrison stared at the floor.
The recording continued.
“I don't know how involved Richard is. But he knows what Malcolm has been doing.”
Then Daniel said one final thing.
“If Samuel can't stop them, Corbin can.”
The recording ended.
Nobody moved.
Corbin stared at the dark laptop screen.
His grandfather had trusted him.
Daniel had trusted him.
And for four years, Corbin had unknowingly sat at the head of a company possibly built over stolen money and a dead man's silence.
Then his phone vibrated.
His father.
Corbin answered.
Richard didn't say hello.
“Leave Lianna Prescott's apartment.”
Corbin slowly looked toward the window.
Across the street...
a dark SUV was parked beneath a broken streetlight.
Richard continued.
“Bring me the blue envelope.”
Corbin's voice became cold.
“How do you know what color it is?”
May you like
Silence.
And that silence gave Corbin the answer he had been afraid to hear.
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